The Beacon and the Wanderer
by almost.bella1030
Summary: Takes place in ME1. After the mission on Noveria, Liara finds herself seeking the companionship of her commander.


AN: Had this idea while I was replaying ME1 for the millionth time. Enjoy!

The hot labs were the final loose end on Noveria. Activate the neutron purge, then get the hell out. Simple. Shepard liked simple. She liked it when her problems could be tied up in a neat little bow. Or a big-ass explosion. That worked too. Of course, the rachni just _had _to rear their ugly heads and make a mess of Shepard's simple solution.

"Get to the elevator! NOW!" Shepard shouted at Wrex and Liara as the horde began to fill the room. Wrex thundered forward, roaring at the krogan's oldest and most hated enemy. Liara sprinted behind him, her biotics holding the mindless monsters at bay the best she could. Shepard brought up the rear; her shotgun took out the rachni soldiers closest to her, but even as she stepped over their fallen bodies, more swelled to fill the empty space. They were about to be overrun. The neutron purge was about to obliterate everything inside the labs.

Shepard wondered why she even bothered making plans if they were just going to be shot all to hell anyway.

Wrex and Liara made it into the elevator. Wrex stood with one fist hovering over the command console and the other bracing his assault rifle, trying to cover Shepard's back. Liara whirled around to look back at her commander. "Shepard!" she yelled. The commander was trying to dodge a pair of rachni soldiers that looked ready to lunge. She wasn't fast enough. A razor-sharp talon scraped across her body, and she was flung to the ground.

Realizing that setting foot outside the elevator would be suicide, Liara took the only option left to her. Using her biotics, she pulled Shepard across the room and dragged her to safety just in time. Wrex's weapon overheated and he slammed his fist into the console. The doors shut before any rachni could make it inside. They could hear the purge wiping out the remaining rachni as they were carried upwards, to the surface.

Liara dropped to her knees. She rolled her commander onto her back, brushing her dusky copper hair off her face. "Goddess," she breathed. There was a red gash across the front of her armor and a trickle of sticky red blood on her forehead. Liara applied a heavy dose of medi-gel, then whispered, "Please, just hold on. Stay with me, Jane. Hold on."

* * *

Eight hours later, Liara found herself pacing outside the med-bay. In addition to being treated for minor injuries, Dr. Chakwas had insisted that she and Wrex be treated for exposure to rachni venom. They both received copious amounts of anti-biotics before being kicked out of the med-bay – Dr. Chakwas didn't need any distractions while tending to Shepard. Liara was terrified of what the doctor's prognosis of her condition would turn out to be. After all, Liara had seen a man _impaled _straight through the chest by the same type of rachni that had lashed at Shepard. The scientists on Noveria had truly unleashed the most frightening of creatures. And they'd paid for it. Liara only prayed that Shepard wouldn't have to pay for it, too.

A moment later, Dr. Chakwas exited the med-bay. Before Liara could launch her interrogation, the seasoned doctor held her hand up to calm her. "She's fine," she assured the asari, who looked as if she hadn't rested in days. "The cut along her ribcage was shallow and she's lost very little blood. Thanks to a quick application of medi-gel, I assume." Liara nodded, listening as if she expected some bad news. "The areas around the wound seem to be suffering from some sort of rash, likely from open exposure to rachni venom. However, it wasn't much, and the anti-biotics will counteract any effects of the infection."

"What about her head wound?" Liara felt guilty about hitting Shepard's head none too gently against the ground when she'd used her biotics to drag her into the elevator, but she took comfort in knowing that her action saved the commander's life.

"A slight concussion. Nothing that is going to slow her down," Dr. Chakwas said. "She's just sleeping off the sedative now. Don't worry, Dr. T'Soni. You should also get some rest – Shepard's going to want to make up for lost time when that sedative wears off."

So Commander Shepard would live to fight another day. "Thank you, Doctor. I'll do just that." Once she knew that Shepard was going to be alright, she felt her weariness catch up to her. All she wanted to do was curl up in her quarters and sleep. As she made her way towards the med-bay, she wondered if her grief would allow her a moment's peace or if her dreams would be plagued with images of her dead mother.

Liara had planned on trudging back to her quarters, stripping off her tight-fitting work suit and passing out beneath a blanket, but before she even made it halfway, she noticed Shepard occupying one of the beds. The commander's lids fluttered, as if responding to Liara's presence. Unable to suppress her curiosity, Liara approached.

Commander Jane Shepard was nothing short of fascinating. The daughter of two prominent Alliance officers, infamous for the slaughter at Torfan, and held up as humanity's poster girl once she became the first human Spectre. And, unbeknownst to the rest of the galaxy, something of an oddity; she should've been reduced to a raving lunatic after the Prothean beacon manifested in her mind, yet her remarkably strong will turned her into the galaxy's only hope against the Reapers. Liara saw her for what she was: a jumble of paradoxes, a fierce leader with surprising tenderness, and an intricately beautiful woman.

Liara found herself tracing the outline of Shepard's strong, feminine profile with her fingertips, trailing across her cheek and down to her jaw. She even drew up the courage to run her thumb along the soft bow of her lips. Very fascinating, indeed. Her face flushed, embarrassed at the thoughts about her commander that had begun to run rampant through her mind. Her fascination was tinged with what Liara thought to be an unhealthy amount of desire. Their relationship was professional. It was supposed to be, anyway. Sure, Jane gave her the occasional sidelong glance when they crossed paths on the ship, and on the battlefield the two of them had a rapport that bordered on intimate. And whenever they were in a room together, alone, it seemed like the air was charged with electricity... Liara silently scolded herself. Those were inappropriate thoughts to have about a superior officer, she thought. Very unprofessional.

"Checking up on me, Liara?" Shepard had blinked awake in a matter of seconds. Liara jumped up, startled. She withdrew her hand quickly.

"Oh! Commander." She scrabbled for some attempt at formality. She mentally cursed Shepard for waking up at precisely the wrong moment. Or precisely the right one. "I... suppose I was." There was a pause. "I felt badly about hurting you."

"Hurting me?"

"I was a little reckless when I pulled you into the elevator with my biotics. You hit your head on the ground and received a minor concussion, from what Dr. Chakwas tells me."

There was a small, amused smile on Shepard's lips. The same lips that Liara's fingers brushed over only seconds ago. "You just saved me from a horde of rachni, and you're apologizing for a little bump on the head?" The commander shook her head, laughing. "You're too much, T'Soni."

"I'm too much? Too much what?" Liara wondered if she was being overwhelming. Perhaps the commander needed more rest.

"Human saying. But thank you. For saving my life."

"You're welcome. I believe it's time I repaid you for saving me back on Therum," Liara replied graciously.

"Yeah, that. And those other hundred times you would've been dead if it weren't for me." The commander had been awake for all of two minutes and she'd already found her sassy attitude. Liara hadn't had much contact with humans – did all of them have such sharp wit?

"Oh, yes. Those. Though I believe the count is closer to fifty or sixty at this point."

Shepard appeared to be offended. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"No. Just a flagrant exaggerator." Shepard laughed again and Liara figured she was becoming more adept at understanding the intricacies of Shepard's sense of humor.

"Now that we've established that I'm doing fine," Shepard began, "How are you holding up?"

Liara bit her lip and turned her gaze to the floor. Her conversation with the commander had distracted her long enough to forget about Benezia, even if only for a second. "I just keep telling myself that it wasn't really my mother that is helping Saren. Just an indoctrinated servant." Liara hung her head. "Maybe I'm lying to myself. But it helps ease the pain."

"You're not lying to yourself. Your mother is the one who gave us the location of the Miu Relay, not the indoctrinated pawn. She kept fighting until the end." A gentle hand lifted Liara's chin. She looked in Shepard's unwavering green eyes. "And that's all any of us can hope for."

Liara didn't want her commander to see the tears in her eyes, but she couldn't help it. Besides, she got the feeling that Shepard would understand. "Thank you. That... that means a lot to me, coming from you." Shepard's hand was still holding her chin, green eyes still staring into her own.

"I don't like to see you hurt," Shepard said softly. She looked like she wanted to add something, but then, her hand slipped away, settling in her lap. Liara felt that charge of electricity in the air, but this time the current seemed amplified. Before Liara could stop herself, she leaned over and kissed Shepard right on the mouth.

Liara half-expected her to recoil from shock, but to her surprise, she met her lips eagerly, leaning up out of bed to reach Liara. The commander's strong arms pulled down at Liara's shoulders, bring the asari nearer. Unwilling to break the kiss and filled with a desperate need to be as close to Shepard as possible, the asari threw one of her legs of the side of the bed so that she was straddling her commander. The sudden contact of their hips was delicious, and Liara felt a strange pull in the depths of her belly. She wanted the commander. She wanted to explore her fascinating body, her unknowable mind. She wanted to forget herself and become an expert in Shepard. She wanted a new identity that was complex and infinitely entangled with her commander's.

After a minute, Shepard drew back, much to Liara's dismay. Her lips were red and swollen from Liara's fervent kisses, and her chest rose and fell with delicate, rushed breaths. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Shepard said quietly onto Liara's skin. The asari nodded hurriedly. Those green orbs focused on her like lighthouses, calling her to the shore. "Your grief isn't going to disappear. It might fade for a while, but I am not the solution."

"Are you saying you don't want to take advantage of my fragile state?" Shepard bobbed her head. An unexpected, teasing smirk graced the asari's features. "_I'm _not the one in a hospital bed." Shepard's quiet laugh washed over Liara. She picked her next words carefully. "I've thought about this – you – for a while. And I think you have, too."

A soft noise emanated from Shepard's throat, a low, purring _hmmm _that told Liara hadn't imagined all those longing glances. "You a mind-reader, T'Soni?"

The asari was grinning wickedly. "Ask me that question again later tonight." Shepard looked like she wanted clarification for the cryptic response, but as her lips parted to speak, Liara slipped her tongue in between them. The commander's hesitation told Liara that she still didn't know if she was being used as a distraction from Liara's mourning of her mother, but she could also tell that Shepard wanted her body just as badly.

Shepard guided Liara by gripping the back of her neck and pressing deeper into the kiss, letting the asari plunge into the warmth of her mouth. With her free hand, she cupped the slender swell of Liara's ass and ground up against her, picking a slow, sensuous rhythm for their dry-humping. Liara moaned, her thighs flexing as waves of pleasure rolled in from her core. She could feel the commander writhing amidst the thin hospital sheets, restricted from much movement in her vulnerable position. For once, Liara was on top of the chain of command. She took advantage of her new position by sliding her tongue out of Shepard's mouth and tugging at her lip with her teeth. The commander gasped, perhaps at her audacity, perhaps from pain, and Liara kissed her way along Shepard's jawline down to her exposed throat.

Reasserting some measure of control, Shepard gave Liara's butt a rough squeeze, then pressed her index finger into the slope between Liara's thighs. The asari moaned, the combination of the pressure of Shepard's grinding along with her wayward hand intoxicating. Her hip motions quickened.

"Easy," Shepard warned, fingers working their way up from the back of Liara's neck to the sensitive skin of her fringe. The asari was so soft there, and Shepard found the alien form undeniably alluring. It made Shepard wonder what the rest of Liara looked like.

Sliding her hand out from underneath Liara, Shepard used both hands to pull her up into a sitting position, legs still draped on either side of her. Her fingers fumbled at the fastening of the high-collared work suit. Liara giggled, a sweet, girlish sound. "Look who's the anxious one now." But the commander remained focused on the task of removing Liara's top. Gently, gloved hands guided Shepard, showing how she came undone yet letting her finish herself. Liara shrugged out of the top part of the garment, letting it flop back.

Shepard studied the asari's skin with rapt attention. Her partner's sky-blue skin was lightly textured, not quite like scales since there was no overlap, but more like an organic lattice of sapphire. Laying her hands on either side of Liara's ribs, she laid her mouth to that blue skin, working her tongue over the hollow of her throat and lower.

Liara reached back to unclasp her bra, letting it fall forward before tossing it aside. Tenderly, she threaded both her hands into Shepard's copper locks and guided her mouth to one of her breasts. That expert tongue encircled her nipple, causing Liara's back to arch and her thighs to clench around Shepard. A delighted cry escaped her lips before Shepard shushed her; it would be quite awkward, to say in the least, if anyone came to investigate. The possibility of being caught sent a thrill through Liara's already aroused body.

One of Shepard's hands drifted down to the small of Liara's back, pressing hard so her bare belly rubbed tantalizingly against Shepard's woefully clothed body. The other hand palmed Liara's breast, index finger and thumb mirroring the motion of her tongue. "Goddess," she whispered against the top of Shepard's head. She wanted to scream out Shepard's name in praise, in encouragement, in pleasure. She could feel the commander's teeth against the sensitive skin of her breast, a pattern of indentations arising most prominently on its full, rounded underside.

Her hips thrust against Shepard, lustful and needy. She needed release. And as much fun as teasing a slow, torturous climax out of the asari was, Shepard was inclined to give her what she wanted. Though the expression on Liara's face when Shepard lifted her mouth from her breast made her reconsider continuing things as they were. "Take of your pants," she ordered.

Liara contemplated the most efficient manner of carrying out that order, then decided to rip them off biotically. They were flung unceremoniously into the corner of the room.

"Poor pants."

"They'll live – only a minor concussion."

Shepard had to stifle her laugh. She leaned back on her elbows, appreciating the asari's curves. It really was no mystery why everyone in the galaxy had the hots for the asari. Shepard included.

"Come on, Commander. Finish what you started." There was a pleading note in Liara's voice that made Shepard even more hot and bothered than she'd been when her tongue was on the underside of the asari's breast.

"You know I don't leave any job half done."

"I'd like some _firsthand_ proof." Dirty humor. Liara understood more about humans than she gave herself credit for.

"Well. Since you asked so nice." Shepard sat back up. "Try to keep it down, okay? We don't want half the ship coming around to investigate." She wet her index and middle fingers by sliding them inside her mouth, winking at Liara and making a show of it. The asari surprised her by grabbing her wrist and taking those two fingers into her own mouth, sucking and even giving a throaty moan. She leaned over and gave Shepard a wet kiss on lips, at which point the commander pressed her hands on the inside of Liara's blue thighs, spreading them. Knees spread wide around Shepard, entrance moist and ready, Liara placed her forehead against the commanders.

Slick fingers entered Liara, gently and cautiously. Shepard was in unfamiliar territory and relied on Liara's feedback for guidance. She began with a rhythmic in-and-out motion, enjoying the silky smooth walls that enveloped her two fingers. Testing her boundaries, Shepard pushed in a little deeper. "Oh," Liara gasped against her. "Oh. _Oh._" She tried to keep as quiet as possible, but it was hard when Shepard was causing eruptions of white-hot sensation with every twitch of her fingers. The fire burning inside her spread to every inch of her body, from her curled toes to her pert nipples and rapidly climbing pulse. A fire that Shepard was all too happy to stoke.

Taking her cues from the slight undulation of Liara's hips over her hand, Shepard bent her fingers in a coy beckoning motion. That really got a rise out of her; her spine straightened instantly, nerves electrified, and her eyes widened. "Goddess, Shepard, that's incredible." Shepard's response was to repeat the motion. Liara grabbed Shepard by the waist, hard, barely muffling an ecstatic squeal. Amused at the small sound that did manage to escape her, Shepard smiled. She had something in store for Liara that would completely blow her mind.

Using her unoccupied hand, Shepard traced the gentle curve of the asari's spine, pausing to cup Liara's perfectly heart-shaped ass, before sliding two of her fingers inside her. Liara jerked forward, her shout of pure rapture emitting as a whimper. "What are you... Jane, oh Goddess, yes!"

Panting now, Shepard curled her other fingers in the opposite direction. Liara had to bite down into Shepard's shoulder to keep from screaming. It felt like she was being torn in two from the inside, and she loved it. There was a wildfire in her blood and Shepard had just poured gasoline in its path.

Shepard experimented with rhythms, finding that two simultaneous flexes, then deep, alternating flexes were the most effective. Liara's soft inner walls tightened around Shepard's fingers, long, deft fingers that were apparently as skilled in killing as they were in loving. Deciding it was time to bring her partner to her climax, Shepard forced her fingers a little deeper and curled her fingers at the same time.

The steady thrumming of pleasure that Shepard had painstakingly built up spilled over suddenly. Waves of ecstasy emanated from within Liara, pulsing throughout her body and burning through her veins. Spots of color danced before her eyes. The intensity of the pleasure bordered on pain, and it was absolutely delicious. Shepard drew her orgasm out impossibly long, continuing the steady, pounding motions as she slowly withdrew from the asari's core, fingers finally withdrawing as Liara rode out the aftershocks.

Liara planted a grateful kiss on the human's lips, letting them linger there for a while. After the blindingly hot passion, her body felt strange and spent and more than anything, she wanted to keep touching Shepard.

Nuzzling her forehead against Shepard's, Liara laced her fingers with Shepard's, secretly thrilled that they were still damp. "That was..."

"Not too bad?"

"I was going to say life-altering."

Shepard murmured, "Glad you enjoyed it." She kissed Liara again, gently tugging at her lips before slipping her tongue inside her mouth, playfully mimicking the beckoning motion.

"Would you like to come back to my quarters?" Liara asked, breaking off the kiss suddenly. Their eyes met and Liara just knew what Shepard was thinking; was sex just a sloppy patch job for the emotional trauma that Liara had been through?

Maybe it was. They could spend an amazing night together, and Liara would wake up thinking of how she had to watch Shepard kill her mother. Or Liara could sit and grieve in her room alone and still wake up feeling the same aching pain. Shepard didn't think having someone to help her through a rough time would be so bad.

Besides, Liara had a score to settle. She wasn't going to let Shepard walk away without giving some pleasure in return for all that she'd received.

"Yeah," Shepard said. "I'd like that a lot."


End file.
